


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap.n^_6i Copyright M 

Slielf_.S_3_l_, 



y 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







,ll.. 


Capital 


© 




Seat ol: Judicial District _ .. 


* 


ala Po-ioua 


Capital of Department 







Seat of Municipal District-, 


. 




Hamlet 






Boundary of Department __ 







Horse Paths 


I 




Macadnmized Highway 

Country Roads 




A 






Rivers 

Mountains 


---■ 




Railroads 





Copyright 1898, by Wm. H. Lee 



MAP OF PORTO RICO 

Specially designed for this work from the best authority and personal observation. Showing the physical formation, the political divisions, railroads, 

highways, country roads, and pony paths. 
The colors on the map indicate the seven departments under Spanish rule. 






spBOj|[iBa 'suotsiAip popiiod sqi 'uopi 



- - ■" S.I8ATJJ 

===== sp«o^ .^.lannoi) 

--«-————— .s:i7AYr[.3tjj pozmiupBovj/j; 

sq^yj 9SJOH 

■~~ ° ~~ ' ~~ :!aG)uqjBc[y(j jo A'a«pnnog; 

•' :}0TJ4STCt x^clPTUi^H Jo :|Beg 
f^ ;uaut:;jBd8a Jo x«'4TdBQ 

,j, '40T.r;sxo: iBtDtpnf jo '4B8g 
^^,,^^^j^^ 



a^ 



0- 









Booap,A^v, 



^, 




M n 







|,.£^?Sm4# 







f IJ,*f S£5f iTFTs^.^,-,, ,^, 



THE STORY OF 

BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO 




Gen. Miles, Commanaer-in-Cbief of the American Army. (Taken at Ponce.) 



THE STORY 



OF 



Beautiful Porto Rico 



A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION 

OF 

THE GARDEN SPOT OF THE WORLD 

BY 

PEN AND CAMERA 



COMPRISING 

The History, Geography, Soil, Climate, Inhabitants, Customs, Churches, 
Schools, Rivers, Lakes, Mountains, Mines, Products, Imports, 
Exports, Current Prices, Scenes of the Invasion, 
Railroads, Public Roads, Telegraph, Tele- 
phone, Money, Measures, Etc. 



BY C. H. RECTOR 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED 

With Nearly Sixty Half-Tone Reproductions from Fresh Photographs by the 
Celebrated Artist 

WILBUR F. TURNER 

AND 

Two Maps Especially Designed for this Work 



CHICAGO 

LAIRD & LEE, PUBLISHERS 

1898 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, 

BY WM. H. LEE, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C. 

All Rights Reserved. 







2)ebicateb 

TO 



OUR ARMY AND NAVY, PRESIDENT McKINLEY, HIS CABINET 

AND THE PUBLIC WHO AIDED SO GENEROUSLY IN 

ACHIEVING 

THE TRIUMP^:\NT RESULTS OF THE 

HISPANO-AMERICAN WAR. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

A Welcome 9 

History of Porto Rico 13 

Geography, Provinces and Population 21, 25 

The Soil 38 

The Climate 41 

The Inhabitants 46 

Schools and Education 50 

Church and Religion 54 

Products 57 

Cattle, Fodder and Poultry 73 

Insects, Game, Fish and Birds 78 

Rivers, Lakes and Lagoons 82 

Harbors 86 

Mountains, Mines, Caves, etc 90 

Public Roads 97 

Railroads and Street Cars 105 

Telegraph and Telephones 113 

Measures and Money 117 

Miscellaneous Information 121 

Peculiarities of Porto Rican Life 126 

An Object Lesson 134 

The Market of Ponce 137 

The Capital 145 

A Legend 149 

An American Hero's Grave 154 

The Red Cross 158 

A Spanish Officer's Sword 161 

A Typical Hacienda Owner , 166 

Spanish Sincerity 169 

An Editor's View 174 

Looking Backward. , 178 

Looking Forward 183 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS 



General Miles in Ponce, Frontispiece. Page 

Map Showing Topography of Porto Rico, - - - 8 

Camp of the Sixth Illinois, at Ponce, - - - - 11 

Company H, Sixteenth Penna. Vols., Before Abonito, - 12 

Street and Public Square, San German, - - - - 15 

American War Vessels at Anchor in Guanica Bay, - 16 

San Antonio Bridges, San Juan, - - - - - 19 

Looking Across the Lagoon from San Juan, - - - 20 

The Only Protestant Church in Porto Rico, - - - 23 

Plaza and Cathedral at Arecibo, ----- 24 
Cathedral and Public Square in Mayaguez — Showing 

Statue of Columbus, and U. S. Cavalryman on Guard, 28 

Bird's- Eye View of Ponce, - 31 

Plaza, or Public Square, Ponce, - - - - - 35 

Typical View Along the Highways, - - - - 39 

A Garden in Porto Rico, 43 

Group of Native Women and Children, Mayaguez, - 47 

Fire Engine House, Ponce, 48 

View of San German — Natives in Foreground, - - 51 

Cathedral, Ponce, 55 

The Royal Palm, - - .- - - - - - 59 

Pack Train, Carrying Coffee to Market, - - - - 60 

Sugar Cane Plantation, 63 

Breaking Camp to Return Home, 67 

Provisional Engineers (Officers of U. S. Volunteers), - 71 

A Grass Peddler, '^'5 

After a Fishing Trip, ------- 80 

Street Scene in San German, 83 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Company "A, "First Illinois, ----- 84^ 

A Train of Ox Carts, Carrying Army Supplies, - - 88 

Battery "M, " Seventh Artillery, Ready for Action, - 92 

The Famous Quintana Baths, Near Ponce, - - - 95 

A Mountain Trip by Pony Path, - - . - 99 

Spanish Barracks in San Juan, - - - - -• 103 

Railway Depot and Yard at Ponce, - - - - 107 

Engine and Train, Narrow Gauge Road, . . - m 

A Street in Ponce, - - - - - - - 115 

Hdqrs. of Gen's Miles and Wilson during Invasion, - 119' 

Camp of Battery "C, " Pennsylvania Volunteers, - 123 

The Porto Rican Milkman, 127 

A Porto Rican Funeral Procession, - - - - 131 

A View of Cemetery Vaults, ------ 132 

A Group of Spanish Officers and Soldiers, - - 135 ' 

Officers of the Sixth Illinois Volunteers, - - _ 13(5 

Busy Scene in Market Place, ----- I39 

Market Hall, Ponce, ------- 143 

View of San Juan, Capital of Porto Rico, - - 144 

Rear View of Morro Castle, San Juan, - - - - 147 

Old Cathedral, Port Ponce— Camp of Battery "E, " 

Pennsylvania Volunteers, ------ 151 

General View of Cemetery in Porto Rico, - - 155 

Scene in a Spanish Hospital, San Juan, - _ - 159 

Ambulances of the American Army, - - - - 160 

Spanish Transports, San Juan Harbor, - - - - 163 

A Rich Man's Plantation, and Driveway, - - - 167 

A Peon's Home Under Banana Trees, - - - - 168 

Camp of Battery "M, " 171 

American Boys Amusing Themselves After the Victory, 175 

American War Ships in Guanica Bay, . - _ 179 




WILBUR F. TURNER 



CHARLES H. RECTOR 



THE Above Cuts faithfully picture the artist and author of ' 'Beautiful 
Porto Rico. ' ' These gentlemen made a trip which practically covered 
the whole island, sailing around the greater part of the coast twice, 
and later traveling some three hundred miles inland by railroad, coach and 
native pony. They passed through fourteen towns while yet occupied by 
the Spanish army, having many thrilling experiences. They climbed to 
the mountain tops, and investigated the management of the great planta- 
tions where coffee is grown, and were unquestionably the first men to 
cover this entire territory and secure facts and figures on the ground, with 
no guesswork, and to secure life-like pictures of the natives, with their 
surroundings. The trip was full of risk, and many times they resorted to 
heroic measures to pass Spanish garrisons. At Abonito the Spanish Com- 
mander was induced to loan his private carriage to carry them out of the 
Spanish lines, which was a queer procedure in time of war. By making 
this successful trip these gentlemen are able to give to the world infor- 
mation never before published. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 




si 



O oo 






A WELCO/nE, 



When your brother marries a stranger in a distant 
land, you are happy to receive the hkeness of the new 
sister^ with a few Unes descriptive of her features and 
complexion, and of her qualities. 

Our family of States has just received an addition, 
Porto Rico. It is true we do not know yet what the 
status of the new member will be in our family, but 
she has come to stay, and it will be well to make her 
acquaintance. 

I should like to introduce the reader, as I was in- 
troduced — sailing over the shining sea and beholding 
the island emerge suddenly out of a mist, a dazzling 
beauty. The sun suddenly dispersed the veil of 
vapors hiding her, and disclosed to our admiring eyes, 
beyond the flashing, dancing waters and against a deep 

blue sky, a gigantic and perfect garden. Were they 

9 



10 A WEIvCOMB. 

trees or mountain tops? Rows behind rows of green 
wavy lines, rising from the very shore to a height of 
4,000 feet and more. Who would not fall in love with 
such a picture? Could it be that there was suffering, 
injustice, oppression between those verdant hills? 
Surely, if there was a spot on earth where human 
beings might be just and kind and happy without 
great exertion, this must be the place. And if the 
notions and laws of the old regime are in the way of a 
peaceful and successful pursuit of happiness, we will 
wipe them out. Our new sister shall enjoy our liberty 
and will soon learn to love our ways. 



HISTORY OF PORTO RICO. 



It was Columbus who discovered and named Porto 
Rico. On the 16th day of November 1493, during his 
second voyage, he sighted the island, disembarked and 
landed on the 19th day of the same month, and, struck 
by the beauty and fertility of the land, called it Puerto 
Rico, which signifies "Rich Port". Those of my 
readers who have seen with their own eyes what 
Columbus saw, will testify that Christopher evidently 
knew a good thing when he saw it, and was not at a 
loss for a suitable name. The natives called the island 
"Borinquen". 

Sixteen years after the first discovery, in 1509, the 
Spanish established the first settlement on the island, 
Caparra, under Don Juan Ponce de Leon, and from 
that time on, a steady stream of Spaniards slowly but 

13 



14 HISTORY OF PORTO RICO. 

surely displaced the gentle Indian natives. The his- 
tory of these Aborigines was the same pitiful tale, 
wherever the Spanish gained a foothold. In Porto 
Rico hardly a trace of the Indian blood is to be discov- 
ered among the population to-day. Caparra, the 
cradle of the 'Tuertoriquenos" was abandoned in 
1552; its site is called Ouebrada Margarita to-day. 
But as a lasting monument to the daring pioneer, the 
second city in importance of the island perpetuates his 
name. Ponce. 

We give the dates of the settlement of all the princi- 
pal places on the island later on, and- confine 
ourselves here to an outline of the history of the whole 
island. 

The capital, whose full name is San Juan Batista de 
Puerto Rico, was founded by Don Juan Ponce de 
Leon in 1511, the Casa Blanca being the first building 
erected. 

In the same year, the town of San. German, in the 
west of the island, was founded by Captain Miguel 
Toro. San German preserves, more than the capital, 
the features of the past. Its inhabitants are very 
proud of their quaint town and its history. Especially 
do they glory in relating an incident of the English 



HISTORY OF PORTO RICO. . 17 

invasion of 1743, when the patriotic and valiant 
burghers of San German met the invaders half way 
between their city and Guanica Bay where the English 
had landed, (and where on July 25th, 1898, General 
Miles forced an entrance,) defeated them and drove 
them back into their ships. 

For all that, they will be good American citizens. 
Sober and practical people, they have accepted their 
fate. When a gentleman in the author's company ex- 
hibited a tiny American flag, the Porto Ricans cheered 
lustily. If good judgment and tactful respect for their 
prejudices and habits are shown by our officials, they 
will be valuable citizens in the near future. In a little 
book, authorized by the Spanish Administration of 
Porto Rico, as a school book, the character of the in- 
habitants is stated to be "frank and expansive," and if 
this be a true estimation, they will blend well with the 
'"Yankees" of these latter days, to be sure. 

In all, the island was invaded nine times, owing to 
the ''codicia" (covetousness) of the foreigners, as the 
little book referred to states. The French invaded the 
island in 1538. The English under Drake paid the 
island a visit and sacked the capital in 1595. Three 
years later, the Earl of Cumberland repeated the pro- 



18 HISTORY OF PORTO RICO. 

cess with, much zest. In 1625 Baldwin Heinrich, a 
Dutch Commander, lost his life in an attack on Cas- 
tello del Mono. After that the English monopolized 
the business, swooping down on their prey in 1678, 
1702, 1703, 1743 and, for the last time, in 1797. 

In 1820, a movement was made toward a declaration 
of independence on the part of the Porto Ricans, but 
the Spanish stifled the rebellion and regained the 
upper hand in 1823. 

In 1824, Commodore Porter of the United States, 
during his successful raids on the West Indian pirates, 
invaded the island, and seventy-five years later on, 
May 12th, 1898, Admiral Sampson appeared before 
San Juan and bombarded the ports during three 
hours. It is a coincidence worth noting, that on July 
25th, the day when the rumor went abroad first that 
Spain was ready to yield to the inevitable, and when 
General Merritt reached Manila, the American forces 
under General Miles also landed at Guanica Bay, 
Porto Rico, hoisting the American flag over the town 
after an insignificant skirmish. 

On August 11th, 1898, a protocol was signed at 
Washington, by the terms of which Spain ceded Porto 
Rico to the United States. 



GEOGRAPHY. 21 

On October 18th, 1898, General Brooke took formal 

possession of the island. The simple ceremonies of 

raising the flag over San Juan, the capital, included 

music by the military bands and the firing of guns. 



GEOGRAPHY. 

Porto Rico is situated between longitude 9 degrees 
44 minutes and 11 degrees 25 minutes east from 
Washington and between latitude 17 degrees 54 min- 
utes and 18 degrees 30 minutes 40 seconds north. It 
is bounded on the north by the Atlantic ocean, on the 
east and south by the Sea of the Antilles, and on the 
west byAIona Channel. The island is ninety-five miles 
long and thirty-five miles broad, with an estimated 
area of 3,668 square miles. According to the census 
of 1887, the population was 813,937, of which more 
than 300,000 were negroes. There are 137 miles of 
railway, about 150 miles of wagon road, 470 miles of 
telegraph lines and telephone systems. 

San Juan, the capital, on the northern coast, is sit- 
uated upon a small island connected with the main 
land by a substantial arched stone bridge, named San 



22 GEOGRAPHY. 

Antonio, and also two iron railroad bridges. At the 
extremity of the island are the high cliffs which sup- 
port El Morro Castle (Morro means round, and signi- 
fies, therefore, the old fashioned fort, as we see it on 
Governor's island. New York harbor, and in Castle 
Garden, New York.) 

Ponce, a great mercantile center and the second 
city of importance, is about two miles from the south 
coast. It was the residence of a military commander 
and the seat of an official chamber of commerce. The 
only Protestant church in the Spanish West Indies is 
here. The little book already spoken of teaches that 
Porto Rico enjoys ''tolerancia de cultos" (religious 
tolerance)^ but this church was found tightly closed 
by our soldiers. Playa is the city's seaport, and is 
considered the healthiest spot on the island, and sec- 
ond port in importance. 

Mayaguez, the third city, is situated in the west 
part. It exports sugar, coffee, oranges, pineapples 
and cocoanuts. The annual export of coffee, ranging 
in price with Java, is 170,000 hundredweights. Of the 
180,000 bags of flour 'that the island buys annually 
from the United States, 50,000 are imported into 
Mayaguez. 



PROVINCES AND POPULATION. 25 

Other principal cities, all ports, are Aquadiila on the 
north-west, Arecibo on the north coast, Fajardo and 
Nagabo on the east side, and Arroyo on the south- 
east. 

Detailed information about rivers, mountains, rail- 
roads, etc., will be found under special headings. See 
index. 

PROVINCES AND POPULATION. 
Each town had jurisdiction over the immediate 
neighborhood in which it was located, and below is 
given the population of the jurisdiction, together with 
the year in which the town was founded and the total 
number of plantations of various kinds in the province, 
according to the directory of the island and other 
ofhcial records. 

BAYAMON PROVINCE. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. lation. 

Bayamon 1772 15,316 

Ccrozal 1795 9,652 

Dorado ■ 1842 3,985 

Loiza 1719 9,600 

Naranjito 1824 6,6ol 

Rio Piedras 1774 11,042 



26 PROVINCES AND POPUIvATION. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. lation. 

Rio Grande 1840 6,237 

Carolina 1857 11,042 

Toa-Alta 1751 6,808 

Toa-Baja 1745 3,285 

Trujillo Alto 1801 4,015 

Vega-Alto 1775 5,498 

Vega-Baja 1776 10,648 

Total population 103,789 

Cane plantations,, 88; coffee, 275; fruits, 2,446. 

ARECIBO PROVINCE. 

Arecibo 1778 29,722 

Camuy 1807 9,181 

Ciales 1820 13,036 

Hatillo 1823 9,671 

Barceloneta 1882 6,246 

Manati 1838 8,191 

Morovis 1818 11,567 

Quebradillas 1823 5,929 

Utuado 1789 31,292 

Total population 124,835 

Cane plantations, 38; coffee, 396; tobacco, 66; fruits, 
2,849. 



PROVINCES AND POPULATION. 29 
AGUADILLA PROVINCE. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. latTon. 

Aguadilla 1775 13,306 

Aguada 1511 9,557 

Isabela 1819 12,554 

Lares 1829 17,163 

Moca 1774 11,092 

San Sebastian 1752 14,042 

Rincon 1770 5,837 

Total population • 83,551 

Cane plantations, 40; colfce, 300; fruits, 2,394. 

MAYAGUEZ PROVINCE. 

Mayaguez 1760 28,246 

Anasco 1703 12,437 

Cabo Rojo 1771 16,844 

Sabana Grande 1814 9,611 

San German 1511 19,933 

Las Marias 1871 9,792 

Hormigueros 1876 3,199 

Maricao 1876 7,728 

Lajas 1883 9,192 

Total population o 116,982 

Cane plantations, 90; coffee, 778; fruits, 2,535. 



30 PROVINCES AND POPUIyATION, 



PONCE PROVINCE. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. lation. 

Ponce 1752 42,705 

Adjiintas 1815 16,321 

Aibonito 1825 6,397 

Barranqiiitas 1803 5,828 

Barros 1825 11,697 

Coamo 1646 10,537 

Guayanilla 1833 7,805 

Juana Diaz 1798 21,032 

Penuelas 1793 , 10,023 

Santa Isabel 1841 3,384 

Yauco 1756 24,411 

Total population 160,140 

Cane plantations, 49; coffee, 7,453; tobacco, 570; 
fruits, 9,260 



PROVINCES AND POPUI<ATION. 33 



GUAYAMA PROVINCE. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. lation. 

Guayama 1730 13,648 

Arroyo 1855 6,040 

Aguas-Buenas 1838 6,844 

Caguas 1775 15,031 

Cayey 1774 12,452 

Cidra 1809 6,365 

Gurabo 1815 7,202 

Juncos 1797 7,414 

Hato-Grande 1811 12,738 

Salinas 1851 4,314 

Sabana del Palmar 1826 6,739 

Total population , 98,787 

Cane plantations, 38; coffee, 2,034; tobacco, 40; 
fruits, 3,563. 



34 PROVINCES AND POPULATION. 

HUMACAO PROVINCE. 

Year Popu- 

Name. Founded. lation. 

Humacao 1793 14,936 

Ceiba 1838 4,314 

Fajardo 1774 8,794 

Ltiquillo 1797 6,579 

Maunabo 1799 5,823 

Naguabo 1794 9,914 

Patillas 1811 10,553 

Piedras 1801 8,028 

Yabucoa 1793 13,103 

Isle de Vieques 1843 6,019 

Total population 88,063 

Cane plantations, 60; coffee, 317; fruits, 1,892. 

COMBINED POPULATION OF PROVINCES. 

San Juan, by last census 32,800 

Bayamon, by old census report 103,789 

Arecibo, by old census report 124,835 

Aguadilla, by old census report 83,551 

Mayaguez, by old census report. 116,982 

Ponce, by old census report 160,140 

Guayama, by old census report 98,787 

Humacao, by old census report 88,063 

Total population 818,947 



PROVINCES AND POPUI.ATION. 37 

The figures given above of the population will vary 
somewhat when the new census of the island is pub- 
Hshed. In a few of the towns I looked up the official 
figures, which were completed but not published, and 
found an increase in every instance. 

In regard to the number of plantations given, it 
should be noted that those referred to as fruit planta- 
tions are almost all small patches. Some of the coffee 
and cane plantations are large, or fair in size, and 
much of the land is held by large owners and leased 
or rented on conditions long established in the island. 

Inmany instances the cane land has not beenworked 
of late years. Much of it is idle or used for grazing. 
This industry will certainly be much more extensively 
carried on now. In fact, a great increase may be made 
in all the products of the island, and this result may be 
confidently expected. It takes time to bring cofifee, 
cocoanuts and such to a bearing state, but there is 
still room for planting, and with the whole United 
States as a market, the prospects of this garden, called 
Porto Rico, must be admitted to be bright indeed. 



38 

THE SOIL. 

The island undoubtedly is of volcanic origin. The 
soil generally is clay, red in color, closely resembling 
the waste found around a brickyard where red brick is 
made. In the bottoms of the numberless valleys the 
decaying vegetable matter has accumulated and 
formed an alluvial stratum of darker hue. The fer- 
tility of the soil is marvellous. The use of fertilizers is 
unknown, because entirely unnecessary. The visitor 
is struck, as Columbus was, with the luxurious vege- 
tation. The lowlands, especially in the south, are cov- 
ered with sugar-cane fields, lined with cocoanut palms, 
the hill-sides are one mass of orange, lemon and lime 
orchards, interspersed with fields of pineapples and 
palm forests. The rocky tops of the hills and moun- 
tains are crowned by the coffee plantations. Banana 
trees grow everywhere. The rich deep green of the 
scenery is relieved and set ofif by a superabundance of 
the most gorgeous flowers and blossoms. Some of 
the flowers grow in clusters fully a yard long, hanging 
down from large beautiful trees by the thousand, and 
are in blossom the year around. 

Spring reigns perpetually, and there are three or 
four harvest seasons during the year. 



THE CIvIMATE. 41 

No cereals, such as wheat, rye or oats, are raised; 
these thrive better under a Minnesota sky. The pota- 
toes, grown in small quantities, are of an inferior 
quality. 

THE CLIMATE. 

The temperature, as must be expected in the torrid 
zone, is always high, but the island, being so small, is 
swept in its whole extent by an almost constant sea- 
breeze from the north-east. In consequence, the mer- 
cury rarely rises above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 de- 
grees Cent.), nor does it sink below 59 degrees Fahr- 
enheit (15 degrees Cent.). The highest point ever 
reached in the last five years was 92 degrees. 

The hot season sets in about July 1st, and lasts till 
the latter part of September. The rainy season com- 
mences in the latter part of August, and ends in De- 
cember. During the heated term the morning hours 
are the hottest part of the day. By 10 o'clock a strong 
sea-breeze brings relief, and, together with the plenti- 
ful shade everywhere, renders life very comfortable. 

The rainy season is not as terrible as many people 
imagine. It does not rain incessantly, but there are 
frequent heavy showers, after which the sky clears 



42 THE CIvIMATB. 

again in surprising rapidity. As the island is one 
mass of hills, and even the southern plane is inclined 
seaward, the torrents of rain disappear as suddenly as 
they come. In an incredibly short time all is dry 
again, and everything greener and fresher for the 
shower-bath. Nor do the inhabitants seem to mind a 
drenching. There is no chill, and the light clothing 
dries quickly on the body, if a change is too trouble- 
some. Violent windstorms or tornadoes are unknown; 
none is recorded after the year 1828. 

Porto Rico is. one of the most healthful spots on the 
globe. With proper judgment in eating of the tropical 
fruits, and if care is taken not to sleep in a draught, 
no fear need be entertained of fevers and other diseases 
peculiar to this latitude. To sleep in a draught, 
however, be it ever so slight, seems to be fatal. Colds 
and catarrh, consumption and bronchitis are common 
ailments among the natives. 

The sanitary arrangements on the island are not in 
keeping with American ideas, but the abundance of 
running water and the natural slope of the ground 
toward the sea, in all directions, has been a natural 
substitute for artificial sewerage and draining, so that 
the conditions are not so bad, in spite of the customs 



THE CLIMATE. 45 

and habits of an indolent population. The capital, 
San Juan, is just building an aqueduct, very much 
needed. The city stands on a small island, and the 
houses are built closely together, having two stories 
each, which is unusual in Porto Rico. At present the 
people of the capital depend for their water supply 
entirely upon rain-water, caught upon the flat roofs 
and conducted to the cistern, which occupies the 
greater part of the inner court-yard, (the essential 
part of every Spanish house the world over, but here 
exceedingly small on account of the narrow confines 
of the island). Another large part of the court (patio) 
is occupied by the vault (cesspool), and, of course, its 
close proximity to the cistern is a source of frequent 
epidemics. 

American enterprise is sure to introduce at once 
modern ideas as to sewerage, surface draining and 
aqueducts, stamping out all fevers; and a sure cure for 
the bronchial and lung troubles of the natives may be 
found in a httle healthful physical exercise, to which 
your Porto Rican at present is a perfect stranger. The 
lack of muscular exertion, together with the effects of 
the everlasting cigar or cigarette, and the enormous 
amount of strons: coffee consumed dailv, have left the 



46 THE INHABITANTS. 

Porto Rican a poor specimen of manhood. Outdoor 
exercise, embracing athletics, football, etc., will be 
among the greatest blessings that we can bring tO' 
them. 

THE INHABITANTS. 

In complexion the inhabitants of the island vary 
from a very deep black to a light brown. The colored 
people represent the darker shades and the Spaniards 
the lighter, but a real coal-black African is just as 
rarely to be found as a really white member of the 
white race. 

In character, language, actions and gestures, the 
Spanish and the native Porto Rican are not distin- 
guishable to an American eye. The men are spare in 
build, with a fair average in height. Owing to their 
indolent life, they are not muscular, but straight in 
carriage, and lively in manners, and the author found 
them frank and generous. Their little island is too small 
ever to be a kingdom or republic by itself, and so they 
have felt the heartburns of the Cuban patriot but little, 
nor have they ever been jealous or envious of other na- 
tions. Friendly with all the world, satisfied with their 
country, without a possible national ambition, and by 



THE INHABITANTS. 49 

the very nature of their country compelled and enabled 
to trade with anybody and everybody, they are cosmo- 
politan in their hearts and were ready to become 
Americans, as they knew that the change would only 
tend to enhance their liberties without threatening a 
single one of their interests. This seems to be the 
natural explanation of the cordial reception with which 
our American boys and our flag met down there at 
their first appearance, so surprising to ourselves and 
all the world, and especially to tHe people of Spain, 
who could not understand it, since the Porto Ricans 
had not rebelled against the mother country but once, 
and that so long ago that hardly one in a thousand 
had ever heard of it. 

The author found the men he met socially pleasant, 
generous and eager to please, gentlemanly in every 
respect. They lack some of the qualities of the stal- 
wart American type, but this is due to their civic con- 
ditions. Without a voioe in the government of state, 
district or city, without a voice in matters pertaining to 
church or school, taxes or tariff, they lack all political 
training and their horizon is limited by that nnich. 
The laborers and lower classes are no doubt lazier 
than their Northern brethren, but if we i:ake into ac- 



50 SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 

count the climate and the impossibility under Spanish 
rule to ever rise by the work of their hands, we may 
entertain the hope that under the American flag wid- 
ened chances will spur them' into greater and remu- 
nerative activity. 

The fair sex in Porto Rico is of the same dark com- 
plexion as the men. They are as a rule plump and 
good-looking. Beyond, this I cannot say, having seen 
but little of them during my hurried travels. Of the 
children I saw more, In fact all there could be 
seen In most cases. Up to their sixth or seventh year 
they wear no clothes at all, but run around "clad in in- 
nocence." Their plays are quieter than those of our 
boys and children, but the author frequently noticed 
their jolly good-naturedness. 

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 

According to statistics there are 445 primary 
schools in Porto Rico, 299 for boys and 146 for girls, 
attended by 31,541 pupils of both sexes. It is stated 
that attendance Is compulsory, instruction free to the 
poor, and they are furnished books, paper, etc., free 
of charge. 

In view of this oflficial statement, it was surprising to 



SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 53 

find that so few people could either read or write, ac- 
cording to an estimate by a Porto Rican, in a position 
to be well informed, only about 7 per cent, oi the popu- 
lation. Even if we do not assume that compulsory 
education exists on paper only, like religious toler- 
ance, it will be possible to reconcile the two facts, by 
considering that the schools are entirely under the 
guidance of the Catholic Church, and that the greater 
part of the school hours is devoted to the instruction 
and drill of the children in the ceremonial and devo- 
tional exercises of the Catholic ritual, and to the 
legends of saints and martyrs, for all of which neither 
reading or writing is required. 

The school buildings which we saw, were of 
the poorest possible description, some of them hardly 
deserving to be called anything better than a shed. 
Scores of fine cathedrals and the substantial guard- 
houses for the soldiers on the royal highways formed 
a significant contrast to these apologies for school 
houses. 

The introduction of the American public school sys- 
tem will work a radical change in this most important 
matter. It will take some time to find and prepare 
the proper teachers, however, because they must speak 



54 CHURCH AND REIvIGION. 

Spanish and pronounce it well, or the children will not 
understand them; but we should lose no time in plan- 
ning and starting the great work. 

Institutions for secondary education are scarce on 
the island. 

CHURCH AND RELIGION. 

The Roman Catholic Church religion is the only 
one existino- in Porto Rico. It is the official or state 
religion and the churches and the clergy are supported 
by the state from general taxes. The island has a 
bishop who is subordinate to the archbishop of San- 
tiago de Cuba. 

We, in the United States, have no conception of 
the manner in which the whole public and private life 
in countries exclusively catholic, is pervaded by the 
intimate relations to the clergy. 

We took pains to get the opinion of the Porto 
Ricans as to the effect of the imminent arrival of 
American protestant missionaries, and were surprised 
to find much Indifference, 



57 
PRODUCTS. 

The principal products of Porto Rico are sugar, 
coffee, tobacco, and cocoanuts, but the variety of 
fruits and vegetables outside of these named are 
almost innumerable, oranges, lemons, limes, pine- 
apples, bananas, alligator pears, mangoes, papas, 
mamas and guavas, and of vegetables, beans, rice, corn, 
sweet potatoes, and almost every vegetable that grows 
in our land. All are plentiful. Wheat, rye, oats and 
barley must be imported; the potatoes raised are of a 
poor quality. 

The time it takes various fruits and vegetation to 
bear or mature differs greatly. The coffee tree takes 
four years to produce, and then the yield is small, and 
not till the tree is seven years old is it counted at its 
best. Before planting coffee a plentiful shade must be 
provided. For the first two years a temporary shade is 
furnished by banana trees, and after that larger trees 
are planted and trained to give a permanent shade. 

Passing through a coffee plantation is like going 
through a jungle. The large shade trees on an old 
plantation give it the appearance of a forest, and then 
the growth of coffee trees beneath their greater 
friends, spread and bend, till the narrow space of nine 



58 PRODUCTS. 

or ten feet between is covered and the branches inter- 
twine and weave together, forming one thick mass of 
shrubbery. Beneath all this you will find another 
growth of vegetation in grass, flowers, vines, etc., and 
with this bottom mat, the dense shade and the 
almost daily rains, the coffee grove is always wet, and 
you cannot pass through without being draggled. A 
new plantation gives some returns after the fourth 
year. After the seventh year a good plantation is a 
gold mine for twenty-five years to come. 

The trees are planted about three Spanish yards or " 
varas apart, (a vara is about 33 inches), and an acre is 
about 75 varas square, which will make about 625 
coffee trees to an acre. I could get no reliable infor- 
mation as to what the yield was per acre, but the 
profit is known to be very large. The trees grow 
about eight feet high and send out new shoots from 
the ground in different directions, and each and every 
stem is loaded with the highly-prized berries, each 
berry containing two of what we term grains of coffee. 
The stem is the size of a lead pencil, or less, and prac- 
tically lined from end to end with berries. The berries 
will grow to the length of half an inch and a little less 
in diameter, being somewhat oblong, holding a rich, 



PRODUCTS. 61 

dark green color till ripening time, about the 1st of 
October, when they turn a bright rich red color. 
Their brittle skin contains a kind of jelh around the 
two grains of coffee. The skin is broken by a ma- 
chine and the coffee is washed and cleansed of all ad- 
herent matter, and then dried on racks or cement beds 
in a few hours and is ready for the market. Porto 
Rican coffee is as good as any in the world and com- 
mands a price equal to that of Java. 

There are excellent coffee plantations in the island 
that are miles up the mountains, being accessible 
only by little native pack ponies over mountain 
paths. The life of a coffee planter is not so bad when 
you think of the value of the crop, as a little pony will 
carry out at one time from a hundred to one hundred 
and fifty pounds of coffee, which means to the owner 
of the hacienda from 20 to 30 dollars. This may look 
to some as a slow life, but it very closely resembles a 
gold mine as the years go on. The exportation of 
coffee out of Porto Rico by the last published report 
for one year was $8,789,788 worth. Sugar cane is the 
next crop in value in Porto Rico. This crop will 
bear in nine months after planting, and will produce 
well for about seven years thereafter without replant- 



62 PRODUCTS. 

ing. It is a valuable crop. The fields seem to be 
covered so thick that there could not be found room 
for any more stalks. The discouraging conditions in 
the island the last few years have told more on the 
sugar industry than on anything else, and today there 
may be seen many fine cane plantations lying idle, and 
the buildings falling to decay, which show plainly by 
their architecture and extent that they have seen pros- 
perous times. Acres and acres of sugar land are today 
given up to grazing of immense herds of native cattle, 
as the cultivating in years past was found to be un- 
profitable. There seems to be nothing different in the 
appearance of the cane when growing, or the manage- 
ment of an estate, from what we see in our own cane 
fields of Louisiana. This business will beyond any 
doubt take on new life now, and perhaps our occupa- 
tion of this territory will tell more on the sugar 
trade than on any other business of the island. 
Sugar haciendas are quite plentiful along the coast 
and river valleys, and when encouraged, and properly 
cultivated, will, like the coffee, be a gold mine. The land 
today is held at from $100 to $200 per acre — American 
money — but the prices may vary from this when some 
basis for business is established there. The last report 



PRODUCTS. 65 

published of the value of one year's sugar product ex- 
ported, was $3,747,891. This amount will probably 
be doubled, when the industry takes new life. 

Tobacco is a paying crop and is cultivated about 
the same as in the states. It is not grown to such an 
extent as. sugar and cofYee, only $646,556 worth being 
exported in one year, according to last published re- 
port. It is a strong tobacco when made into cigars, 
and it may be possible to improve it by proper curing. 
On the high lands in the vicinity of Coamo and 
Abonito are the best tobacco plantations. 

Cocoanuts are a staple in the markets. They are 
used by the thousand, by the people of the island, and 
are exported in great quantities. A person owning 
one hundred acres of cocoanut trees, need not do any 
work the balance of his natural Hfe. A tree will grow 
in about ten square feet, and this would give about 500 
trees to the acre, and each tree is valued at from one 
dollar to one dollar and seventy-five cents each year. 
This is for the nuts alone, without considering the fiber 
that can be taken from the tree. It takes a tree from 
five to seven years to mature and bear, and it is 
said that a cocoanut tree was never known to die of 
its own accord. They live and yield continuously 



66 PRODUCTS. 

for almost countless years, are pretty to look at and 
rich in production. 

Orange trees will bear in about four years. The 
fruit is fine and will perhaps prove worthy of cultiva- 
tion. 

Lemon trees will bear in about four years. Limes 
are grown quite extensively and are much more in use 
in Porto Rico than lemons. 

The banana in Porto Rico comes nearer being at 
home everywdiere, than any other fruit or vegetable. 
From the lowest lowlands to the highest hilltops the 
banana tree may be found, and apparently happy with 
its load of rich fruit. It is the best friend of the people 
who occupy this land. Its fruit is plentiful and holds 
about the same place there that our potatoes hold here. 
The people would find life hard without them. They 
have many varieties, which are used in different ways. 
The one that is eaten raw as we eat bananas, grows in 
small clusters and only about five inches long. It is 
fine of meat and rich in flavor. From this variety 
they run up to great size and length; and the larger 
ones are much coarser and are used for cooking and 
also drying and rubbing into flour. The tree will grow 
to its height from nine to fifteen feet, and bear in 



PRODUCTS. 69 

about nine months. It is rich and beautiful to look 
at and gives good shade. 

Pineapples grow in abundance. They bear fruit 
in about nine months, grow very large and are of the 
best flavor and quality. Will be a paying staple and 
require little labor, as the same plant produces fruit 
many times in succession. The pineapple culture is 
likely to be one of the leading industries of the island. 

Grapes are grown but little. The grape vine seems 
to thrive better in the temperate zone where the plant 
gathers strength during the winter season. 

The guava is a small fruit, growing on a tree like a 
peach or apple tree, about one and a half inches in 
diameter. Nearly round in shape with seeds like a 
tomato or fig. This fruit is used extensively to make 
a jelly or paste. Occasionally it is found in our mar- 
kets. Because of the plentifulness of the fruit and the 
rich pleasant paste that can be made from it, a guava- 
jelly industry is sure to spring up and this delicacy 
will soon find a place by the side of our other sweet- 
meats. 

Alligator pears are plentiful and much used by the 
natives. They grow on large trees and are offered 
for sale in abundance in the markets and by peddlers. 



70 PRODUCTS. 

They are three times the size of our large CaU- 
fornia pears, dark green in color and coated with 
a hard shell-like skin. The taste is not much like 
that of our .pear and in first trying to eat the fruit one 
may pronounce it a poor pear, but a good kind of 
pumpkin. Cooking or preserving may bring out its 
hidden virtues. Beside the fruits named there are 
many others, such as the mango, which the natives use 
extensively, but which proved to be very unhealthy to 
our soldiers while doing service in Porto Rico. The 
fruit is large, reddish yellow in color, and grows on 
large trees in abundance. Then there is the cactus 
fruit, the mama, the canape and innumerable others. 

It is a land of fruits of all kinds and in the greatest 
abundance. In addition to the fruits, vegetables of all 
kinds are plentiful. Sweet potatoes and beans are 
excellent. The Porto Rican rice is of a variety that 
does not" require so much water as the Louisiana rice. 
Corn is good and three crops may be grown in one year. 
Almost all the vegetables familiar to us are found on 
the north side of the island and well up to the high 
lands. 

For a person with a love for a grand garden with 




Officers Of ^-^-^^^^^^^^^^ in Porto Rico, Composed of Company A, First Illinois, ana 

Washington, D. C. Company, in their Kitchen at the Base of a Large 

Tree while in Camp Near Ponce. 



CATTI.E, FODDER AND POUIvTRY. 73 

fruits, flowers and vegetables, by the side of running 
water, Porto Rico is the place, especially the northern 
portion. 

CATTLE, FODDER AND POULTRY. 

The stock and poultry of Porto Rico are very infe- 
rior. You will find poor horses or, rather, no horses, 
but little ponies weighing GOO or 700 pounds. The 
cattle are fair in size, up to the average of ours, but 
not the best for milk or meat. The oxen of the island 
are perhaps superior to our own, as they are so mus- 
cular and strong in the neck, having been bred for 
the purpose of drawing heavy loads. The yoke is tied 
to the horns by rawhide thongs, and the loads on the 
two-wheeled cart are pushed up-hill and controlled 
going down-hill by their great necks. 

Draught oxen are worth from 125 to 200 pesos a 
yoke, according to the quality of the stock, the excel- 
lence of the match and the care with which they have 
been broken, of course. Good beef is scarce and 
brings in good times 3J or 3-| pesos for the arroba 
(25 pounds). 

The principal varieties of pasture grass grown in 



74 CATTI.E, FODDER AND POULTRY. 

Porto Rico are guinea grass, para and gramma. The 
first does not require a rich soil and grows an the 
hills. Cut and chopped it makes an excellent green 
fodder. Gramma is about the same, while para re- 
quires the rich, alluvial soil of the bottom land. It 
fattens the cattle, but does not give them much solid 
flesh. 

Cattle raisers have to contend with two pests, the 
guava and a peculiar plant called ''mori vivi." The 
guava is eaten by the cattle with avidity. The undi- 
gested seeds are scattered everywhere, take root, and, 
growing and multiplying rapidly, are more destructive 
to a pasture than the thistle of the north. The ''mori 
vivi" is a sensitive plant which it is hard to fight. The 
center of the little weed is a tempting morsel for cattle, 
but it is surrounded by a circular row of very sharp 
and stifif needles, which usually he flat on the ground, 
but rise like the bristles of a porcupine as soon as a 
cow or steer attempts to nibble at it. The cattle sooo 
learn not to poke their noses into these prickles and 
the weed, unmolested, soon overruns the whole pas- 
ture, so that it has to be abandoned for a whole season 
at times, until these pests can be exterminated. 

Cured hay is unknown on the island, as green fodder 



CATTIvE, FODDER AND POUIvTRY. 77 

is abundant all the year around. In the cities the grass 
peddler makes his daily rounds, like a milkman. 

The other animals found on the island, like the 
goat, sheep, hog, dog, etc., seem to be dwarfed and 
need new blood to bring them up to a useful state 
and to the size that is common with us. The hog can 
beat the long-nosed Mississippi rooter in leanness and 
length of head. 

The poultry, like the animals, are of inferior grade. 
The chicken, which is so useful to man, is very small 
in size. It looks like a species of game, not so large, 
but even leaner, if possible. The little cock uf the 
chicken family is as proud as a Spaniard, and being 
trained for the pit, would put up a good fight, as 
some of our army officers, who turned to this sport 
in their leisure hours, will testify. 

Turkeys are small. They do not seem to take on 
any meat and are almost unfit for use, nor can you 
ever call a Porto Rican turkey pretty, as it is generally 
as innocent of plumage as the children are of clothes. 

This state of things was certainly brought about 
by the island being cut off from the balance of the 
world, and no new blood being taken into the com- 
numity. For four centuries thev have been inbred 



78 INSECTS, GAME, FISH AND BIRDS, 

and inbred, till they are so diminutive in size that they 
are almost worthless. It is a grand opportunity for 
our stock breeders to try experiments and see what 
the country needs and what will thrive there, and 
fill this one void in Porto Rico as we found it. 

INSFXTS, GAME, FISH AND BIRDS. 

There are no snakes in the island of any conse- 
quence; only very small and perfectly harmless speci- 
mens are to be found. 

Centipedes are quite plentiful, but are not much 
dreaded by the people. The peons go barefoot and 
seem to have no fear of them. They are found prin- 
cipally about old buildings. Their sting is not counted 
fatal. 

The tarantitla is also to be found there, but I never 
came in contact with one, and know of no case of 
our soldiers being disturbed by them in all their camp- 
ing in low land and on mountain side, and I do not 
think they will seriously interfere with the enjoyment 
of life. 

The lizard is common and may be seen in all its 
glory along the road, and of all colors ; perfectly harm- 
less to any one that Is not too nervous. If you are 



INSECTS, GAME, FISH AND BIRDS. 81 

nervous, you may find your peace broken by feeling 
one of them glide gently over your neck when in bed. 
There being no game on the island, it is no place for 
the hunter. I was told, though, that this class might 
find entertainment enough by simply crossing Moaia 
channel to Mona island, about thirty miles distant, 
where wild hogs and goats and other game are 
plentiful. 

Fish are abundant around the coast and many are 
caught, but there is no great business done in this 
line, as the climate is too warm to handle fish without 
ice, which is scarce. 

While lying at anchor in Ponce and Mayaguez, we 
saw many large fish in the water around the vessel, 
and some officers aboard amused themselves shooting 
at sharks. Whether there are any fish in the rivers I 
cannot say from my own knowledge, but I should 
judge that trout and similar fish would enjoy those 
mountain brooks and rushing rivers. 

Birds are not very plentiful; those seen are very 
pretty; the parrot, the canary, the nightingale, the 
thrush, and manv others. 



82 

RIVERS, LAKES AND LAGOONS. 

I know of no other land on the globe so plentifully 
blest with pretty little fresh-water rivers as is this 
island. In her small area of less than 4,000 square 
miles, and v^^here the whole island may be girdled by 
a trip of 275 miles, we find over sixty rivers pouring 
into the seas. None of these are large in the sense in 
which we of the land of the Mississippi, Ohio and 
Hudson speak of large rivers, but they gather quite 
a volume of water in their short course. 

They form high up in the mountains from fresh- 
water springs, and, joining forces with many little 
streamlets and increased by the frequent rains, they 
become of volume enough to float a good-sized boat 
by the time they reach the coast. 

There are three rivers of considerable importance. 
The Loiza, rising in Cerro-Gordo, near Cayey, passing 
through the districts of San Lorenzo, Caguas, Gurabo 
and the two Trujillos, emptying into the Atlantic 
ocean in the north of Loiza. 

The Plata, rising in the Cayey district, on the Pelado 
range, passing through the districts of Cayey, Aibo- 
nito, Cidra, Sabana del Palmar, Naranjito, the two 



RIVERS; LAKES AND LAGOONS. 85 

Toas, and El Dorado emptying Into Boca-Habana, in 
the north of Lower Toa. 

The Anasco, rising in San German, on the northern 
side of the Cain range, empt3ang in the west of the 
island. 

Of some importance are, also, the Bayamon, Ma- 
nati and Arecibo in the north; the Culebrinas and 
Guanajibo in the west, and the Jacaguas and Patillas 
in the south. 

This wonderful supply of water for so small a terri- 
tory is certainly worthy of comment. It is to this 
wealth of water and its perfect distribution throughout 
that the island owes its beauty and fertility. There is 
no place where the dry season or dry weather ever 
affects the crops, except in the south-east corner. It 
is here, perhaps, that the enterprising American may 
find a splendid field for the exercise of his genius and 
energy. 

There need not be a crop failure on account of a 
drought if the water is properly husbanded, and the 
swift currents can easily be harnessed and made to 
turn the wheels of industry, or produce an electric 
current that will propel the trolley car even to the 
mountain peaks, or give light to the homes that are 



86 HARBORS. 

now lighted by the crude lallow dips that we delegated 
to the past so many generations ago. 

There is a lagoon running east from Arecibo about 
one mile inland, about four miles long, which will float 
a good-sized vessel. Several small inland lakes may 
be found along the coast, principally on the north side. 

HARBORS. 

Guanica Bay is on the south side of the island and 
well to the west. It is beyond question the best har- 
bor on the whole coast of Porto Rico. It is deep 
inland, with enough depth of water to carry any vessel 
in ordinary shipping. It is the bay where the Ameri- 
can army first landed, when the invasion commenced, 
and by building pontoon docks out 225 feet, all stock 
was unloaded from the transports with ease. It is 
almost a model harbor, and with small expense can be 
put in perfect condition, as it practically already has 
depth enough and is completely protected from the 
sea. 

It may become the principal trading port of the 
island, when roads and railroads are completed 
throughout. 

The harbor of San Juan, the capital, is of ample size 



HARBORS. 89 

and sufficient depth of water, but the channel leading 
to it is narrow and so difficult that the frequent storms 
of the north coast seriously interfere with San Juan's 
trade. 

It is probable that the channel will be improved, as 
no doubt San Juan will remain the capital and prin- 
cipal town of the island. It has many great advan- 
tages, and with an improved harbor, will soon become 
an American city. 

The other harbors, some of them hardly to be 
called harbors, Arecibo, on the north, Aguadilla and 
Mayaguez on the west, Guayanilla, Ponce and Arroyo 
on the south, and Humacao on the east, are nothing 
more than small pockets in the coast line, and some of 
them nothing more than open roadways in the ocean. 
Arecibo is exposed fully to the ocean and has no pro- 
tection. A vessel cannot risk lying at anchor if a blow 
is on, but must put to sea. Ponce, Mayaguez, Agua- 
dilla and Arroyo, are a little better, but will necessitate 
great outlay of money in building docks and moles 
or breakwaters strong enough to resist the enormous 
power of the ocean waves. 

American capital will find a large field in the needed 
harbor improvements in all the ports of Porto Rico. 



90 MOUNTAINS, MINES, CAVES, ETC. 

In Playa de Ponce, for instance, the warehouses 
seemed to be ah wrongly located. They certainly are 
not near the place where the first shipping dock will 
be built. The Spanish administration seems to have 
taken absolutely no cognizance of the requirements 
and interests of commerce. At present there are no 
docks. Unloading is done by means of Hghters, a 
mile or so out in the bay. Our American merchants 
will not stand the loss of lime and the unnecessary 
expense of such a method very long. 

MOUNTAINS, MINES, CAVES, ETC. 

To those approaching Porto Rico from any direc- 
tion, it appears to consist of nothing but mountains, 
and the aspect of the green terraced tiers, rising gradu- 
ally from the coast to a height varying from 670 
meters (2,233 feet) in the west to 1,520 meters (5,066 
feet) in the north-east, is certainly beautiful and very 
attractive. 

The highest peak is Mount El Yunque, 1,5^0 meters 
high and visible from the sea at a distance of sixty- 
eight miles. It is part of the lange running east and 
west, and dividing the island into the north and south 
portions. The range extends from the capes of San 



MOUNTAINS, MINES, CAVES, ETC. 93 

Juan on the eastern extremity, to Point Cadera, near 
Rincon in the west. From this range, the great 
watershed of the island, the waters have run north and 
south for thousands of years, washing out deep ravines 
and valleys and leaving standing between them in- 
numerable ridges, which in turn became small water- 
sheds and were cut into by the torrents of the rainy 
season. 

Notable high peaks are Torrecilla, between Barran- 
quitas and Barros, 3,667 feet high; Mata de Platanos, 
near Penuelas, 3,030 feet high; Torito, in Cayey, 2,856 
feet high; Silla de Guilarte, in Adjuntas, 3,660 feet 
high, and Cerro-Gordo, in San German, 2,233 feet 
high. 

In minerals the little island cannot be expected to 
be very rich, but there are three salines (at Salinas, 
Guanica and Cabo Rojo), while galena is mined in 
La Rosita in Guayama; gold is washed in La Cati- 
nesterlila in Luquillo; lead is found in Guyama, and 
Hme-phosphates on the island of Mona. 

There are some thermal springs, the most famous 
among them being the Banos de Coamo, near Santa 
Isabel, in the south, where people afflicted with 



94 MOUNTAINS, MINES, CAVES, ETC. 

rheums and skin diseases find relief. The water here 
has a temperature of 113 degrees. 

Two miles from Ponce are the sulphur baths of 
Quintana, the waters of which contain calcium and 
soda besides the sulphur. During the morning hours 
health-seekers enjoy the baths, while the afternoon 
and evening are given up to the sporting element. 

The springs of Juana-Diaz have the reputation of 
strengthening an enfeebled stomach, and there are 
others In San Sebastian, San Lorenzo and Ponce, but 
their virtues do not seem to have been discovered or 
classified. 

Of caves the island contains a large number. The 
interior of the most notable one, Aguas-Buenas, proves 
the volcanic origin of the island. It is tortuous, with 
deep recesses, but a visit is rendered unpleasant by 
clouds of bats inhabiting it, and whose droppings fill 
the cave to about one-third of its natural height. Of 
the other caves we will name two, that of Ciales, and 
in Arecibo the cave called Consejo, which is interest- 
ing to the geologist and traveller. 



97 



PUBLIC ROADS. 

On account of the topography of the island, the 
pubHc roads, which the government built principally 
from a military point of view, conform closely to the 
outline form of the island, making the circuit, with the 
exception of the south-east corner, while the south and 
north coasts are, in addition, connected by two roads 
running across the back of the big watershed. One 
of these, the road from San Juan to Coamo, is a splen- 
did piece of engineering, and the pride of the inhabi- 
tants of the whole island. The road is about 100 
kilometers or sixty-three miles long, and thirty feet 
wide, solidly built, macadamized and as smooth as 
anything except asphalt can be. From Coamo the 
road continues west through Ponce along the south 
shore, but although it is very good, it does not com- 
pare with the part first named. 

The ''royal roads," plainly indicated on our map, 
must be called very good as a whole, but outside of 
them there are absolutely no roads worth speaking 
of. What this must mean in such a mountainous 
region, where any road deserving the name can be 
built only at great expense, the reader will be able to 



98 PUBLIC ROADS. 

imagine. From Mayaguez you may travel due east 
for thirty-five miles through a weld-populated district 
before you reach a road, say at Utuado, and from there 
to Caguas, again due east, is about sixty miles between 
two good roads. There are roads connecting cities and 
villages, but they are so rough that a carriage or wagon 
would go to pieces in the first half hour, and in places 
you have to lead your pony over boulders and fallen 
trees for miles. Good roads will do wonders for the 
country, by opening up the interior. 

In traveling through the island, you nuist be a good 
horseman to make one of these trips up the mountains. 
It is thrilling and grand if you can stay on your pony, 
as he climbs up and slides down the steep banks and 
wallows through the little rivers. I, myself, brought 
some marks of my trip back with me to the United 
States, in the shape of bruises. 

When the rainy season sets in, the clay ground be- 
comes so slippery, that the faithful animal, be it ever 
so honest, will lose its footing and sometimes give you 
a roll down the bank and land on top of you. This I 
tried to take as a joke because I was about the same 
size as my mount, and I simply acknowledged that it 
was a pony on me, and would lead him till we found 



PUBLIC ROADS. 101 

a better road. I shall never forget the impression I 
had, after climbing about two thousand feet above the 
sea, making eight miles on the back of a pony, 
when I turned and looked at the country be- 
hind me. We were in the midst of a cofifee plantation 
and in view of the lower lands. We could see four 
small towns, and the capital in all her grandeur in the 
distance. 

Certainly if you can endure the ride and are sure that 
you can stand a six hundred pound animal falling on 
you about three times, it will pay you to make such a 
trip. A more pleasing view, a more exhilarating 
atmosphere and a more restful place cannot be found. 
You are disturbed by nothing but the chatter of the 
few birds in the trees and these pass unnoticed, as the 
wild parrot does not talk our language; and the crow, 
if he ever had the caw of our American crow, has been 
compelled to leave it ofY and spends his time in study- 
ing the cut of your clothes. 

If you desire to make an extended trip in Porto 
Rico, you may, of course, by taking plenty of time, 
cover a good part of the island by sailing around it 
and landing at dififerent points, and then running 



102 PUBIvIC ROADS. 

inland as far as the roads are good, but this will take 
much more time, and will be much more expensive. 

In this connection I should hke to speak of an idea 
that occupied my mind frequently, as I travelled along 
the royal roads. All along these highways, at intervals 
of about six miles, there stand substantial buildings, 
erected for the purpose of sheltering the civil guards 
or military of the island. 

These houses are constructed of masonry, about 
20x40 feet. They are first-class buildings and by slight 
alterations could be made into most elegant public 
school houses. We shall not need them for the pur- 
pose for which they were erected, and as the people 
must have free schools, let our government, which 
went into this war with Spain for humanity's sake, 
import into the island some of our liberal-minded 
school teachers, of which we have enough and to 
spare, and open up all these good buildings as public 
schools, as soon as possible, since Spain has now 
vacated the land. 



105 



RAILROAD AND STREET CARS. 

The railroads of the island are all narrow gauge and 
not far reaching in length. The island is girdled by one 
franchise, which starts at the capital, San Juan, and 
were the road built, would carry you clear around the 
island, about 275 miles, touching all the towns along 
the coast, and at Humacao, on the east end oi the 
Island, a branch would run intO' Caguas about twenty- 
five miles, and there are nice dotted lines on the com- 
pany's map to show where other branches may be 
run. As I said before, this is only a franchise. It was 
granted to a French company about eight years ago, 
and you must not gO' tO' Porto Rico expecting to ride 
around the island by rail for some two years to come. 
It will be taken care of by some of our enterprising 
Americans, and from some little facts I gathered I am 
confident that the first steps in this direction have 
already been taken. The franchise referred to has 
expired and is declared by good authorities to be per- 
fectly worthless. The present tracks will be utilized 
so far as this can be done, but there will be a new 
grant, leaving the old company out. 

When the franchise was granted eight years ago, 



106 RAII/ROAD AND STREET CARS, 

a start was made from the capital south to Bayamon, 
and thence west to Arecibo and a Httle beyond this 
point, which is in all about fifty miles. A start was 
also made at Aguadilla to Rincon, through Anasco 
and Mayaguez, and beyond, to within about two miles 
of San German, with a branch from Anasco to Lares. 
Another start was made at Ponce and carried through 
Guayanilla to Yauco, and also a short piece of road 
was built from San Juan toward Carolina, which lies 
east of the capital, but was not finished and has never 
been used. This is all that has been done in railroad 
building, and as it rests to-day, is absolutely useless to 
the public. Out of the whole franchise of about 300 
miles, only about 134 miles have been constructed. 
The gauge of the road is 3 feet llj inches. The road 
is well equipped with rolling stock and the depots and 
water tanks all along these pieces of road are of 
masonry and in good condition. The incompleteness 
of the system and the irregular running of trains 
exclude all freightage and keep the usefulness of the 
road down in every way. The roadbed looks as much 
Hke a pasture as like a railroad. In fact, stock may be 
seen along the tracks, and in fifty miles our engineer 
slackened his sixteen-mile-an-hour speed more than 



\ 



RAII^ROAD AND STREET CARS. 109 

once to give some huge ox or bull the privilege of 
crossing, as the animal was weightier than the engine. 
Trains are run only in the early morning and late 
afternoon hours. From 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. there is no 
traffic. 

This will all soon, and very soon, be changed. 
American business methods are bound to bring good 
results in this, as in all other directions. The enter- 
prising early visitors on the island seemed to prefer a 
cold franchise to flowers, oranges and pretty things, 
as the franchises were well looked to before they had 
seen a plantation in the land. When we were in Ponce, 
about the time the protocol was signed, it was truly 
amusing to see the crowd of speculators gathering 
there, and all of them trying to get on the inside of 
something good. Not one of them seemed to realize 
the insignificant size of the island and had they com- 
promised the matter by agreeing to divide up on the 
whole franchises and each take an equal share, they 
would not have gotten more than about eleven feet 
each. 

From the capital to Rio Piedras runs a narrow 
gauge railroad to accommodate the small suburban 
travel, and to haul grass. By the way, Rio Piedras is 



110 RAILROAD AND STREEP CARS. 

the summer resort of the capital; the governor-gen- 
eral's summer home is there among others. This short 
road would make a nice electric line and will undoubt- 
edly be used in this way in the near future. 

In Mayaguez, the west end town^ there is a little toy 
street car line from the harbor up to the street on 
which the town hall is situated. It is the only real 
street car line on the island. The cars are drawn by 
Httle ponies, and are so small that but few people can 
ride at a time. If a car jumps the track, the colnductor 
and driver invite the people aboard to leave the car, 
and then they lift it back on the rails. I don't 
know who owns the road, but think it is a syndicate 
of residents of the town. Directly after our people 
took possession of Mayaguez on the 12th of August, 
the board of directors of this extensive enterprise 
notified the public that instead of the 3-cent fare that 
had been charged up to that time, they were compelled 
to charge now 5 cents^ assigning as the reason that the 
great increase in business necessitated it, as the man- 
agement had to exert themselves so much more to 
fill the demands on them. It was perhaps good argu- 
ment, but it looked to my skeptical mind more as if 



TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONES. 113 

the owners had heard of WaU street and were takiag 
advantage of an opportunity. 

Whether American capitaHsts wiU find profitable 
fields in Porto Rico in the way of street car lines, I 
cannot say; but until the interior is opened up more 
and until wages for labor — now 60 to 70 cents a day — 
shall have risen to a higher standard, I should say 
there will not be people enough who want to ride to 
make any new surface road pay anywhere on the 
island. 

TELECxRAPH AND TELEPHONES. 

From the capital you can communicate with all the 
principal towns of the island by telegraph, both around 
the coast and throughout the interior. It was esti- 
mated that at the time our army invaded the island, 
there were in use about 500 miles of telegraph line. 
It can be said of the telegraph in Porto Rico that it 
was found in more perfect working order than any 
other branch of public improvements, and it will need 
but few additions to make the system complete. As 
in European countries, the telegraph lines were built 
and controlled by the government, and were, there- 
fore, like the royal roads, well planned and constructed 



114 TELEGRAPH AND TBivEPHONBS. 

at the expense of the people. This method has one 
advantage: As the people have paid the cost of estab- 
Hshing the plant, they are not called upon to pay more 
for the service than it takes to run the system. The 
rates are consequently so low as to be a surprise to 
an American. 

The telephone is not in universal use in the island, 
but is making fair progress. We found it in quite 
general use in the three principal towns. In San Juan 
the residents estimated that there were 500 'phones in 
use; in Ponce 200, and more being added daily, and 
in Mayaguez it was coming into general use. The 
telephone is destined to play a prominent part in the 
affairs of the island in a short time. The towns are 
not far distant from each other, and a simple little 
line, such as is needed to do business from place 
to place will cost little. A system reaching from shore 
to shore north and south and even east and west will 
not cost much, and I doubt not that each and every 
town will soo'n have the telephone and through this 
means of communication the island will be much bene- 
fited. 



117 



MEASURES AND MONEY. 

Like the Spanish mother country, the colony of 
Porto Rico used nominally and officially the metric 
system, but the common people, of course, are slow 
everywhere to adopt anything new in the line of the 
abstract. In our own country the marketmen in the 
east still talk of "a shilHng a pound," meaning thereby 
12J cents in New York, and 16 2-3 cents in Boston. 

The royal roads and the railroads are measured, 
therefore, by kilometers (1,000 meters equal .62137 
of a mile), and the milestones of Porto Rico are kilo- 
meter posts. In trading at the shops, however, the 
meter is not in use, but the old Spanish vara, shorter 
by three inches and a fraction than our yard. The vara 
has thirty-six pulgadas or inches. The square vara 
is used for measuring land. Seventy-five varas square 
are called a cuerda, which is a little less than our acre. 
The weights are the same as ours. 

The monetary system is decimal, like ours. A 
peso has 100 centavos, but is worth only about 50 
cents, American money. The coins in circulation 
are of the following denomination: 1 centavo and 2 
centavos of copper; 5, 10, 20, 40 centavos and 1 peso of 



118 MEASURES AND MONEY. 

silver, and 5 and 10 pesos in gold. The latest coins all 
bear the imprint 'Isla de Puerto Rico/' but they were 
minted in Spain. Of paper currency they have 5, 10 
and 20 pesos bill^. The fives are of the size and shape 
of a cabinet photograph; the tens are considerably 
larger, and the twenties are of commercial letter size. 
The bills I saw were made in the United States. 

Of course this money will be speedily replaced by 
our United States currency. We shall have to shoul- 
der the expense of cancelling and withdrawing the 
coins and substituting ours for them. What will be- 
come of the bills I cannot say, but there will probably 
be no difficulty about it, and no loss entailed to any- 
body. 

During the author's sojourn in the island a local 
paper (a curiosity, printed on one side o'f a sheet 
12|- inches by 8-| inches, without date or indication of 
the place of pubhcation, called El Buscapie — Foot- 
guide), contained a leader, in which it was stated that 
a New York moneyed company intended to buy up 
all the Porto Rican pesos at $1 each, to make sou- 
venirs of the war of them and sell them, making a 
profit of about $2,000,000 o,n them and relieving the 
Porte Ricans of a serious and embarrassing problem. 



MISCKIvLANBOUS INFORMATION. 121 

Our saying of "castles in Spain" has, of course, its 
equivalent in Spanish. Could it be that this equivalent 
is anything like ''gold mines in New York"? 

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 

Coal has not yet been discovered on the island ex- 
cept in insignificant quantities, and it is not believed 
that there is much of it there. What is used comes 
from Norfolk, Va., and costs 8^ to 10 pesos per ton. 
Only the electric light plants, factories, railroads, etc., 
requiring a constant supply of coal, have occasion to 
purchase it. All cooking is done by charcoal^ brought 
down from the mountains by the peons and selling 
at 25 centavos per bushel. 

Bricks are rather poor in quahty, being soft and 
easily broken, though durable when laid in the wall. 
They are made of a size about 6x9x1^ inches. They 
are commonly sold in the towns at 8 pesos per 1,000 
delivered. The supply of clay is unlimited. 

Paints. — Way up in the mountains, 2,000 feet 
above the sea, about seven miles south of Rio Grande, 
are found in abundance the minerals used for paint, in 
red, white and blue. These colors are displayed on 
the buildings, throughout the island, with scarcely 



122 MISCElvIvANEOUS INFORMATION. 

any variation, either by mixing them together or 
adding other shades. It is curious indeed that Mother 
Earth should, in this island, supply the colors which 
represent, so completely, our national emblem — ^the 
stars and stripes. The people of Porto Rico will 
value henceforth, more than ever, this chalky sub- 
stance, because it will serve as a reminder of the flag 
that relieved them from the oppression endured by 
them for centuries. 

Lumber. — The duty on lumber up to this time has 
been 4 pesos on rough, and 6 pesos on dressed. The 
prices at which lumber has retailed run from 28 pesos 
for the commonest pine to 45 pesos for good Georgia 
pine. The island produces some beautiful hardwood, 
highly prized for furniture. Some of it sells in the log 
for 5 pesos per cubic foot in the harbors. 

Galvanized Corrugated Iron is used generally 
throughout the island for roofs and temporary enclos- 
ures. Heretofore it has been principally imported 
from England, and is now selling for 6 pesos and 25 
centavos per 100 pounds, being sold in bundles of 
fourteen sheets, 3x6 feet, with an average weight of 
220 pounds a bundle. It s-tands the climate well, not- 
withstanding many reports to the contrary. 



MISCEIvIvANEOUS INFORMATION. 125 

Labor. — Native workmen (peons) on the planta- 
tions are furnished, without expense, a thatched shanty, 
usuaUy containing one room. They have also the 
use of a small plot of ground for a garden. They work 
by the year at from 8 to 20 pesos per month, and are 
always in debt to their employers, who oblige them 
to take their pay out in goods kept in a small store 
or commissary nm by each planter. 

Carpenters, bricklayers and the more skilled labor- 
ers have had but little work in the past year or two, 
but when employed get from 1| to 2 pesos per day. 

Rates of Interest. — Ordinary commercial paper, 
running six months or less, is usually drawn at from * 
10 to 1.2 per cent. Short loans from IJ to 2 per cent, 
per month; long time loans on real estate, three to five 
years, from 9 to 12 per cent. Long time loans are 
secured by mortgages which are in current use, as in 
the United States. 

Registry of Deeds. — Only about 10 per cent, of 
all property holdings are recorded. Not until about 
1880 was a system of registry adopted and made a 
law, and the requirements of the law are so expensive, 
in the surveys and other charges, that only a few have 
availed themselves of its benefits. Titles generally 



126 SOME STRIKING PECULIARITIES. 

are considered good when proper transfers have been 
made, which means getting- the signatures of all the 
living people who might in any way becoiiie heirs to 
the seller. The recording does not seem to give 
any advantage, except as a safeguard against the loss 
of the papers. 

Rents. — The rate of rent charged for any property 
seems to be established at about 12 per cent, of its cost 
or earning power capitalized. If the house cost 1,200 
pesos and the lot were valued at 800 pesos, the rent 
at 12 per cent, would be 240 pesos a year. 

SOME STRIKING PECULIARITIES OF 
PORTO RICAN LIFE. 

Ice, artificially made, is only to be obtained in three 
towns: San Juan, Ponce and Mayaguez. The price 
is from 20 to 30 pesos per ton in large quantities, and 
from 2 to 6 centavos per pound at retail. The natives 
use but Httle, and since the American occupation the 
army has utilized the plants to their utmost capacity, 
frequently no ice being obtainable at any price. 

Butter is not made on the island. The sniall quan- 
tity used is brought from Denmark and Holland, aiid 
costs 1 peso per pound. It comes i(n sealed packages. 



SOME STRIKING PECULIARITIES. 129 

The scarcity of butter makes the problem of eating a 
serious one for Americans, as one is obHged to become 
accustomed to many unfamihar dishes. OUve oil and 
garlic reign supreme. A native cannot eat unless his 
food is flavored with odorous garlic and swimming in 
oil. When we forbade our cook to further use these 
articles, she said, straightening up, that it was impos- 
sible to prepare a meal without them. 

Peddling Milk. — In many of the towms the milk- 
man drives his cow from door to door calling out 
"vaca" (cow), and his customers generally bring 
out a large bottle and watch the fluid milked into 
it. The calf ahvays accompanies the cow\ The 
peddler cannot be accused of watering his milk unless 
they think him expert enough to carry a supply 
up his sleeve. I saw^ one of our soldiers buying 
milk, who, after seeing it drawn from the cow accused 
the milkman of selling him agua (w^ater). I w-ondered 
whom the charge was against, the man or the cow. The 
cow looked unconcerned, I am sure, but the milkman 
did not, although I could not swear that he understood 
the Yankee's joke any better than his fourfooted milk 
can did. 

Watering the Streets. — The island being so rich 



130 SOMK STRIKING PECULIARITIES. 

in mountain streams, it is no wonder that many of the 

cities have water-works. The streets are sprinkled by 

a man going from point to point, opening a small trap 

in the narrow walk, attaching a hose to a water main 

and squirting a thin stream as far as the force wall 

reach. 

A FUNERAL in Porto Rico is as simple and unpre- 
tentious as it can be made. The rank or circum- 
stances of the family who suffers loss by the death of a 
member, may be judged in watching a procession to 
the cemetery. The poorer are carried to their last rest- 
ing place by their friends and sometimes on the heads 
of a couple of sturdy peons. The next class, or 
middle class will enjoy the luxury of a cart, and the 
higher class will resort to the extravagance of a hearse. 
In no case do the women or children attend the funeral 
of a native or a Spaniard. Sometimes when a funeral 
of a foreigner is held, they will turn out, but this does 
not occur often. 

The cemeteries are a curiosity. They are partly 
walled in and the walls are thick enough to have tiers 
of recesses, in which the coffins are deposited. The 
poorer people rent one of these vaults for five years 
for 25 pesos, the well-to-do buy one or several outright, 



SOME STRIKING PECULIARITIES. 133 

while only the very richest families aspire to a private 
tomb. In our picture of the cemetery of Ponce, the 
reader may notice, on the seal of the vault in the right- 
hand lower corner, the letters R. I. P., signifying: 
rcquiescat in pace; or ''may he rest in peace." When I 
first noticed this inscription, I wondered in my mind 
whether I was the lucky discoverer of the grave of Rip 
Van Winkle, but the remainder of the name dispelled 
my ludicrous fancy at once, of course. The letters 
met my eyes many times more in that cemetery. 

The houses are mostly built of brick, and stuccoed. 
One story is the rule. Glass panes for windows are 
unknown. Slats take their places.' 

The stores have no show-windows, but, as shown 
in our cuts, nothing but doors, three or four of which 
lead into the same room, to be used either as a store or 
shop or dwelling, according to the tenant's needs. 

One of our cuts shows the polite Spanish way of 
protecting the walls of their houses from the disfigur- 
ing poster. Instead of our forbidding "Post no bills!" 
you find the notice that "You may post your bills at 
'the rate of 25 pesos each." 



134 



AN OBJECT LESSON. 

In presenting the two pictures, one of the Spanish, 
the other of American officers; taken while the 
armies were in service in Porto Rico, we call atten- 
tion to the striking contrast in bearing and difference 
in dignity of the two forces. This difference is so 
impressive as to be an object lesson to the world of 
to-day, and to all coming generations. 

The Spanish officers are pitiable specimens of 
soldiers, with their frail bodies and half child-like 
bearing, in their humiliation and dependency, with 
all manhood blasted by superstition and tyrannical 
government. The American officers, on the other 
hand, have won the admiration of the world. Instead 
of looking the humble insubordinate, every man is a 
knight, brave and true. Their tall, muscular frames, 
their bright faces and their dare-devil courage, is 
the product of the free schools of America. 

Surely these two pictures may stand as forcible 
illustrations of the truth, to be learned by every 
man, woman, boy and girl, that governments, like 
individuals, are known by their fruits. One teaches 
the folly of bad government, while the other is a 



THE MARKET OF PONCE. 137 

splendid apotheosis of the blessings of our free 
institutions and self-government. 

THE MARKET OF PONCE. 

The daily supply of food is always procured at the 
market, where from 6 o'clock to 10 a. m. each day, 
Sunday included, the servants of all the wealthy fam- 
ilies and the mistresses and children of the poor, repair 
for the purchase of their daily supplies. The grocery 
stores are chiefly concerned in the sale of liquors, 
of various canned goods, condiments, and such 
articles as are not perishable. There are no meat mar- 
kets, no refrigerators and no ice except in cafes of the 
better class, and even there only in homoeopathic 
quantities. 

The market in Ponce is an iron-roofed buildinsf, 
open on all four sides to the elements, surrounded by 
enormous stone pillars, with a floor of cement, and 
the entire scpiare surrounding it is paved with blocks 
of native dressed stone. In the interior of the market 
are hundreds of little stalls, or booths, leased by the 
municipality and presided over by a market-master 
and native policemen, who enforce order. 

On one side is the fish market, in which a great 



138 THE MARKET OF PONCE, 

variety of fish are exposed for sale. At one place a 
steak will be carved for you from an enormous 
sturgeon; in another, large red snappers are exposed 
for sale, whole or by the pound; in others, small fish, 
freshly caught, are for sale by the string, usually six 
to eight strung together, and offered for from 20 to 
2.-) centavos. All the fish in these waters are beautifully 
marked; one variety is a deep red, almost crimson; 
another will be gold, al^out twice as large as the gold 
fish of the aquaria, and several varieties of silver fish. 
There are no fish in any way similar to those of the 
United States, and perhaps the most marked char- 
acteristic of them all is their unusual coloring. 

On the other side of the market meat is sold, all 
native — beef, pork, mutton and poultry. The native 
marketmen have not learned to cut up beef across the 
grain, but slice off a slab indiscriminately, with or- 
across the grain, as the case may be, and it is all sold 
at a uniform price, the customers seemingly having 
no preference as to the cut, the choicest of steaks go- 
ing at the same price as the coarser portions. 

In another section of the hall are fruits; in another 
vegetables, in another laces, tinware, hardware, hos- 
iery, gay ribbons, shoes, in fact a department store, 



THE MARKET OF PONCE. 141 

tjiough owned by a hundred eager, screaming indi- 
viduals, each one crying his or her wares as loudly 
as possible. 

I asked the prices of many things, as they were sold 
in small portions that morning, with the following 
result. Musk melons, the kind our grandmothers 
raised, long, deeply-ribbed and yellow, 25 cents each; 
half-grown chickens, 75 cents per pair; eggs, 3 and 4 
cents each; home-made cheese, similar to the good 
Dutch or cottage cheese, 10 cents a pound; guava jelly, 
25 cents per pound; pine-apples, 10 to 20 cents each, 
according to size; bunches of bananas, 50 cents to $1 ; 
coarse brown sugar, 6 to 8 cents per pound; a lighter 
colored sugar, 8 cents per pound; refined white sugar 
is unknown; shelled corn, 4 cents per pound; Ameri- 
can ham and bacon, each, 20 cents per pound; flour 
from New York, 8 cents per pound; home-made hard 
soap, 20 cents per pound; small head of cabbage, 20 
cents each; guavas, 40 cents a peck; jerked beef from 
South America, 16 to 20 cents per pound; bread, 12 
cents per loaf, weighing about a pound and a half; 
fresh rolls, 10 cents per dozen; small tomatoes, 1 cent 
each; oranges, 50 cents per hundred; white beans, 6 
cents per pound; corn meal, 6 cents per pound; south- 



142 THE MARKET OF PONCE. 

ern cow pears, 2 cents per pound; Irish potatoes, -8 
cents per pound; sweet potatoes or yams, 2 cents per 
. pound; native coffees, 20 cents to 25 cents per pound; 
cocoanuts, 3 cents each; fresh beef, 14 cents; pork and 
mutton, 20 cents. The above prices of course were 
all in Porto Rican money, which would make the 
articles about half the price named in American 
money. 

In addition to these articles, I noticed the following, 
but was unable to procure the prices: Egg plant, 
gumbo, lima beans, small water melons, canapas, plan- 
tains, limes, pumpkins, summer and winter scjuashes, 
pomegranates, native peppers of a dozen sorts, live 
pigs, big and little, with their legs tied, lying in passive 
rows on the pavement awaiting purchasers, large field 
corn, sugar cane, string beans, garlic, more garlic, and 
plug tobacco in ropes at 25 cents per yard; cigarettes, 
1 and 2 cents per bundle of ten; cigars from 1 to 5 
cents each, the cheaper being equal to the dearer in 
quality, there as elsewhere. 

From 6 o'clock to 10 pandemonium reigns; after 
that the crowd of purchasers dwindles away one by 
one, and the place is silent, and the attendants put up 
the shutters, sweep the floors and a torrent of water 



THE CAPITAL. 145 

is turned on through hydrants and everything is 
scrubbed to absolute cleanliness and the place is de- 
serted till the next morning. 

THE CAPITAL. 

The capital, San Juan, according to the last census, 
had a population of 32,800. It is really a beautiful 
town, built on a peninsula, or, rather, an island, that 
runs almost directly west and out into the ocean. It is 
walled on the north or ocean side with strong fortifica- 
tions, Morro Castle and San Cristobal fortresses, 
which will stand for ages to come, and which simply 
smiled at Sampson's famous bombardment. These 
gigantic walls, while there was some damage done in 
the city, might truthfully say, like the boy, ''Never 
touched me." 

Notable buildings are the "Beneficencia," the Lu- 
natic Asylum, the Captain-General's Palace, the 
Administration Building (Intendencia), the Spanish 
Bank, the Barracks de Ballaja, the House of Repre- 
sentatives, the Civil and the Military Hospital, the 
Consistory, the Cathedral, other churches and the 
bishop's palace, the Institute for Secondary Education, 
and a seminary for the aspirants to priesthood. 



146 THE CAPITAL. 

The town is well paved throughout with white pav- 
ing brick and is in the best condition. It is excep- 
. tionally clean in outward appearance, as the streets 
are on such an incline that the frequent sho-w'ers of 
rain dash all the dirt off and down into the bay. 
Good telegraph and telephone service^ gas works, 
electric light works, ice factory and some other small 
manufacturing plants give the town a decidedly mod- 
ern aspect. It is destined to remain the principal town 
of the island. By reclaiming some low land, dredg- 
ing some natural lagoons, improving some little 
islands and extending the drives, the district south of 
the present town could be made one of the handsomest 
tropical parks in the world. 

Before I visited the place I said, "If we took Porto 
Rico, we should destroy the wall around the north of 
San Juan." I have changed my mind — we should not 
destroy it, but should keep it for its picturesqueness 
and for the story it tells of the past 400 years. As a 
protection, it is of less value now than ever, as we 
Americans prefer to rely on our boys and their marks- 
manship. 

Ample room may be found in the barracks for all 
the soldiers we shall need' there and I think we shall 













r 

i 






^^^n,, IK 


L 




I 
1 




■i 




\ 




% 


^^^^^^P^jj^l^^^^^^^^^^^V 





A LEGEND. U9 

have space to let. They are at present constructing 
water works to bring water into the town, carried in 
iron pipes from a mountain stream. When this im- 
provement is completed and if sanitary principles are 
observed, there will be no reason why San Juan should 
not be a very healthful and attractive place, especially 
as-there will be no longer need of cranmiing the people 
together for the sake of retaining so large a part of 
the island for militar}' purposes. 

A LEGEND. 

The pious people in Porto Rico are blessed with the 
presence of a miracle-working image, the history of 
which they love to tell, and in whose beneficial efih- 
cacy they place implicit confidence. 

In the times when slavery was lawful and piracy 
lucrative, there lived a man in Porto Rico whose en- 
terprise and shrewdness had made him immensely 
rick. Whtn his fortune was large enough to satisfy 
him he turned his mind to other things. He wished 
now to acquire a standing among his countrymen and 
with heaven, and to this end he had to cleanse himself 
of the stains which his unrighteous life had left upon 
his reputation. This was accomplished by donating 



150 A LEGEND. 

to t/lie cathedral in Mayaguez the statue of a saint, 
carved and decorated in the most sumptuous style 
that the island afforded. 

This image one day mysteriously disappeared from 
its resting place in the church. At first, people thought 
that thieves had sacrilegiously laid hands on the holy 
image, tempted by the rich jewels with which it was 
hung, and the whole population set out to discover 
the hiding place of the thieves and their booty. After 
many days of fruitless search, the image was acci-' 
dentally discovered in the fork of a large tree in the 
forest many miles from Mayaguez, and, strange to 
relate, not a single gem or jewel was missing, nor was 
the shghtest injury done to the statue itself or its dec- 
orations. 

The happy people went out in solemn procession 
and carried their now doubly prized treasure back to 
their church in triumph. Speculation as to the per- 
petrators of the dastardly crime continued, but no 
clew to their identity was found. Hardly, however, 
had the excitement subsided, when one morning, on 
opening the church, the place of the statue was found 
to be empty again. Amazed and bewildered, the peo- 
ple never thought of going to the place where the 



A LEGEND. 153 

saint had been recovered the first time, but there it 
was found after all, again by an accident, and again 
intact. 

To make an end to such disturbances of the peace, 
the people now surrounded the church with soldiers 
and guards, placing a watch at every door and win- 
dow, below and in the belfries, and threatening death 
to any of them who should be discovered asleep or 
careless at his post. 

In spite of all these precautions, however, the saint 
went on the third escapade after a while, and was 
found again perched in the fork of the tree in the 
depth of the forest. Then it dawned upon the people 
that it could not be human hands that had removed 
the image, nor could they find any human purpose in 
these rem.ovals, and the grey-haired priest gave 
it as his opinion that the saint seemed to wish a change 
of location and that her desire should be granted, in 
return for which she would assuredly be gracious to 
the island and grant many a favor to those praying 
to her. This opinion was universally accepted by the 
good people of Porto Rico and a church was accord- 
ingly built in the place of the tree and the image was 
given the place of honor therein. The city of Hermo- 



154 AN AMERICAN HERO'S GRAVE. 

gueras, according to the legend, sprung up around 
this new church. 

The pious in Porto Rico firmly believe to this day 
in the healing power and benevolence of this image, 
as the pilgrimage of thousands annually testifies. 

AN AMERICAN HERO'S GRAVE. 

At Ponce, in the old cemetery, may be seen the 
grave of Ethan Allen, of the Second Wisconsin Volun- 
teers. This grave is located about one-third the way 
through the grounds, on the right side of the main 
walk. 

Allen undoubtedly was the first American soldier 
tO' be buried on the island. When our army, aboard 
the transports, steamed into Ponce harbor July 27th, 
1898, he reported himself sick,- and received the best 
care that could be given him. But in spite of all that 
could be done, he sank rapidly and in only a few hours 
was no more. He had answered his last bugle call; 
had performed his last good service; had done all he 
could do — given his life for his country. 

On the same day that Allen died, the town of Ponce 
was surrendered to the Americans, and arrangements 
were made to burv the comrade of the brave Wiscon- 



AN AMERICAN HERO'S GRAVE. 157 

sin boys in the cemetery. An undertaker was secured, 
together with two carriages, and on the 28th of July, 
all that was earthly of brave Ethan Allen was carried 
to the burying ground and after firing the customary 
salute, was placed in a grave. The remains of this 
brave boy lie there to-day under the tropical flowers, 
2,500 miles from home, w^here his officers and com- 
rades were compelled to leave them. 

This pathetic little story is related because poor 
Allen was the first to fall and in telling this inci- 
dent it is applicable to many of our worthy, uncom- 
plaining boys in blue who went to Porto Rico at the 
call of their country, but never returned to their loved 
ones at home. 

For the family and friends of our soldiers who lost 
their lives in the service, there is the great consolation 
that they wore their uniform with credit; they died 
as only the brave can die, and that every ooe of them 
was an honor to the mother, sister or sweetheart who 
blessed them and was so proud when they marched 
away. 



158 



THE RED CROSS. 

Not as part of the history of Porto Rico do we 
speak of the Red Cross Society, but its work has 
been of so much importance in the invasion by the 
Americans, that we feel it should have a place in 
our attempt to picture the island as we found it. The 
work of the mem.bers of this society can never be 
fully described. The sacrifices they make and hard- 
ships they endure to carry relief to the suffering sol- 
dier boys in the field is deserving of the heartfelt 
gratitude of every true American. 

Their work is to provide the soldier in the service 
with many things which it is impossible for the army 
commissaries to furnish, and to comfort and nurse the 
sick and wounded. They did their work well in this 
war, as thousands of our brave boys will testify, who 
enjoyed the delicacies of light, nourishing diet, which 
took the place of hard tack and side meat. They 
knew no nationality or sect in their work, but stood 
on the humane platform of love for all mankind, as 
ready to relieve the suffering of the unfortunate Span- 
iard as of one of our own fallen heroes. At the latter 
part of the war the Spanish Red Cross officials and 




^ 






'^ 


^ 


CO 


3 


< 


9i 


3* 


a 


(/J 


Ct> 


M 


P 


^ 


W 


Cb 




> 






a> 


f-t 


3 


3 


S 










?r 


a 


fa 

3 


o 
3 


§> 


!« 


3* 

a> 


§ 




M 




o 


(P 


> 




> 


^ 


^ 








B 


S" 


^ 
m 










Pj 


JS 




n 


55 






















w 


H 












'^:; 










CO 






^ 


^ 



A SPANISH OFFICER'S SWORD. 161 

ours met and consulted together. Thousands are the 
stories that could be told by our boys, of how their 
burning heads were cooled by some sacrificing nurse 
who left her home and travelled 2,000 miles, and more, 
to render this noble service, and whose touch was 
like the mother's or sister's. 

The Red Cross will never be forgotten by those 
who witnessed their good work — God bless them. 



A SPANISH OFFICER'S SWORD. 

Just after the Americans entered Mayaguez and 
while the neighboring towns were still held by the 
Spanish, no ooe, of course, was permitted to go be- 
yond our pickets without a pass from the Spanish 
governor-general. But this did not stop a certain 
American who was determined to see the next town. 
He was challenged by the ^Spanish sentries, the guard 
was called out, and the commanding ofificer ordered 
him to return at once from where he had come. The 
American politely informed the ofificer that he knew 
he was talking to a gentleman, and rather than do 
anything that might make trouble for any one, he 
would leave the town if he had to walk. The Span- 



162 A SPANISH OFFICER'S SWORD. 

iard replied that his desire to obhge a gentleman was 
in conflict with his duty. After some further exchanges 
of civilities they concluded they were both good fel- 
lows and adjourned to a place where refreshments 
were served, to settle further details. They took 
brandy, *'limonada" and cigars, and then "Hmonada," 
cigars and brandy, followed up by the best dinner the 
house could afiford, at the American's expense, with 
free music, furnished by the landlord's pretty daughter. 
The point at issue was not wholly forgotten in this 
flood of good things; the discussion of the question, 
whether the American was under arrest or not, alter- 
nating with a contemplation of the war from a reason- 
able standpoint. While the Spaniard imbibed his 
brandy and did justice to the dinner, his patriotism 
rose to an admirable pitch and he remarked: "1 
am under orders to surrender this town in about two 
weeks with all army effects, but, sir, I shall never sur- 
render this sword. I shall break it and throw the 
pieces into the sea. I have sworn to wear it with 
honor to my country, and to die rather than yield it 
into other hands." ^'Oh! I would not break it," said 
the American; "I will tell you what to do. You have 
worn It with honor to your country and yourself; now 



A SPANISH OFFICER'S SWORD. 165 

let me honor both the sword and you. Let me take 
it back to America. I will hang it on the wall of my 
library and many will be the good drinks I shall take 
and the cigars I shall smoke to the soldier and gentle- 
man who honored that sword by wearing it. I will 
tell the story to the young generation, and it will give 
to the world a lesson in patriotism and generosity." 

The officer seemed impressed by the argument and 
the same evening the American was escorted to his 
train and allowd to depart, instead of sleeping in a 
prison cell. Just before the train pulled out, a car- 
riage drove rapidly up and the officer, who is the 
principal in this little story, stepped out and handed 
the American a package, bidding him "a Dios." Upon 
examination, the American found the package con- 
tained the valued sword. It now hangs in the library 
of a prominent young Chicago lawyer, who would not 
sell it for many times its real value. 



166 



A TYPICAL HACIENDA OWNER. 

About nine miles due east of Mayaguez, on the road 
to Lares, there lives Lope Valdestino Pelissier, owner 
of a 200-acre coffee plantation. He is a rich man for 
Porto Rico, but lives, with his family, in a very plain 
fashion, though with the pride o'f a knight and the 
manners of a perfect gentleman. At the gateway of 
his mountain home, seven Americans halted their 
ponies in August, 1898, partly to seek shelter from one 
of those drenching mountain showers, and partly to 
rest and draw on the hospitality of the owner for re- 
freshments. 

The interpreter of the party addressed the dignified 
old gentleman, asking if he could favor them with 
dinner, and he replied with great politeness that his 
poor, mean home was at their disposal, that they were 
welcome to all he could do for them. 

The dinner was prepared (and a splendid dinner it 
was), and in pleasant conversation an hour was passed 
at the table. After the meal was ended, one of the 
guests proffered an American $10 bill in payment, but 
the planter told them that he believed he was enter- 
taining gentlemen and friends, and that he could not 



SPANISH SINCERITY. 169 

think of accepting money; and even if they were not 
friends, he could make no charge, as he was not an 
innkeeper. 

The family of this generous Spaniard was most 
interesting. The eldest daughter, about 20 ydars of 
age, was strikingly beautiful with her dark hair and 
great blue eyes. One of the party presented her with 
a small silk American flag, which she at once placed 
in her hair. This flag seemed to add to her attractive- 
ness, as the red was like her rosy lips and cheeks, and 
the blue like her limpid eyes. Never was the flag worn 
more proudly by an American than by this Porto 
Rican girl. I venture to say, no more valuable citizen 
will be found anywhere than the owner of this haci- 
enda, if one may judge from such short acquaintance. 

SPANISH SINCERITY. 

In Ponce, in the early days of the American inva- 
sion, when things w^ere very much unsettled, some of 
the fastidious diners, who were not used to having 
garlic and olive oil in all the dishes placed before 
them and who felt they could not live if entirely cut 
ofif from everything like a club or the fine eating 
houses in the United States, clubbed together for 



170 SPANISH SINCERITY. 

renting a house, that they might be able to have their 
own meals prepared and to give their orders in Eng- 
lish. The standing order, or, rather, supplication was, 
"For God's sake, leave out the garlic and olive oil." 

One party of three, in a case of this kind, started 
out one morning, determined to secure c[uarters and 
make arrangements for preparing their next meal. 
After many inquiries and much walking they were 
finally directed to the house of a Spanish professor. A 
more pleasant gentleman could not be found. He ten- 
dered the use of five rooms without charge and made 
daily calls, offering his services in any way he might 
be useful. 

As the days passed, a warm friendship grew up 
between the Spaniard and Americans, many amusing 
incidents resulted from the mixed conversations, in the 
efforts to understand each other — the professor at all 
times exerting himself to master the English. Thcv 
war was discussed and the causes which led to the 
bitter conflict, the Spanish gentleman being outspoken 
in his views, giving in full the opinio'iis he held pre- 
vious to the war. He said: 'T was born and raised in 
Spain and my mother still lives there, and it is but 
natural that I should be attached to the land of my 



SPANISH SINCERITY. 173 

birth. I felt that the Americans were unwarranted 
in invading our land; you would have felt the same 
way were you in m^y place. We Spaniards did feel 
bitter and no just man will censure us when he under- 
stands our position and learns how the Americans 
were represented to us. It is all o-ver now; we find the 
Americans to be gentlemen, such as we claim to be, 
and such gentlemen as we can welcome intO' our 
homes. We now accept the situation as it is, hoping 
it will be for the better, and trying to believe it will be. 
My good old mother will perhaps die in Spain, while 
I shall remain in Porto Rico. I shall master the Eng- 
Hsh language, become an American citizen, abide by 
the new laws, and the one great wish of my life shall 
be, that my 3-year-old boy shall grow up to be a 
worthy, respected citizen of the victorious, liberal and 
progressive United States, and that he may always 
love the stars and stripes, as my mother and myself 
have loved the flag of Spain." 

A similar case occurred among another group of 
Americans, who, having taken a house, had just be- 
come comfortably settled, when one evening a gentle- 
man entered who was readily recognized as a Span- 
iard. He addressed the party in fair English, statiuvg 



174 AN EDITOR'S VIEW. 

that he lived next door, that he was a Spaniard, had 
been a Spanish sympathizer and would like to have 
seen Spain victorious, but that his holding these opin- 
ions did not necessarily bar them from being frie'nds 
and that as they were strangers in the land and unac- 
quainted with the customs, which would lead to many 
inconveniences, he had come to offer his services, 
hoping to be called upon if he could in any way add 
to their comfort. He proved of great service and a 
dehghtful neighbor. 

AN EDITOR'S VIEW. 

Just after the signing of the Protocol, an editorial 
appeared in the Porto Rican papers, in substance as 
follows: "We are confronted with a condition that is 
trying and sad, not to say humiliating. We have to 
meet the questions that, loom up before us, and we 
must nerve ourselves to meet them as brave men and 
true, trusting women. 

"It is sad, indeed, to think the time is coming, as 
come it must, for the Spanish to completely evacuate 
Porto Rico. It will be a -trial and loss not only to 
those that go, but also to those that will stay. Many 




American Boys Amusing Themselves After the Victory Had Been Won. 



AN EDITOR'S VIEW. 177 

are the instances where old and dear friendships of 
long years' standing must be severed; where ofihcers 
are to be sent away, who have resided here twenty 
years or more, who have married into our best fam- 
ilies, and who have formed ties of love and friendship 
which were never meant to be severed. All of these 
families ties, and ties of dear friendship must now be 
broken, and our friends and dear ones must leave the 
land and deliver it over to the new power, which is 
practically unknown to us. 

"It is not for us to pass judgment on the events that 
led up to the present situation, nor would it be profit- 
able to do so. But it is proper that we pause to realize 
what we lose, and to look into the future. We give 
up what has been pleasant in the past, but we know 
not what the future may bring. 

"It is our duty to ourselves, to meet our new fellow 
citizens, the Americans, frankly and without distrust. 
Let us welcome them as friends, let us welcome their 
laws and institutions, which they claim are so much 
more liberal and humane than ours, and let us trust 
that all will work out for the advancement of our in- 
terests and civilization. Let us welcome our con- 
querors and hope that our friendships with them may 



178 LOOKING BACKWARD. 

be lasting and true, and that sometime in the future 
we may again meet those that now leave us. 

"We trust in the great wisdom of God, that all that 
now looks dark will not prove dark, and that we may 
all be gainers in the end." 

LOOKING BACKWARD. 

The patriotic Porto Rican of to-day does not deplore 
the events that brought about the change in political 
affiliation, by which he has become or is to become 
an American citizen. The burdens which impover- 
ished Spain and were piled on the backs of her subjects 
and colonists were too heavy, no^t to give them a feel- 
ing of relief, now they have been taken away. 

In order to realize the full w^eight of the burden, 
we must remember that Spain has always considered 
her colonies as milching cows from which to draw 
the greatest possible advantage, and at the smallest 
possible outlay. The Spanish system of exploiting 
her colonies consisted in sending to them armies of 
soldiery, priests, monks and civil officers, for whom 
the natives and later on the colonists had to provide 
shelter and food, and handsome salaries. 

It became a settled institution in Spain to educate 



LOOKING BACKWARD. 181 

the sons of noble families with a view to fill a govern- 
ment position in a colony, richly endowed and giving 
an opportunity, besides, for amassing a fortune rap- 
idly, by taking bribes or stealing outright the funds 
contributed by the colonies or mother country for 
public improvements. To create such opportunities, 
great projects were always being carried out, roads 
constructed, cathedrals built in every little town, (sev- 
enty in Porto Rico), and contracts let for army sup- 
plies. To keep the colonists from rebelling against 
the enormous taxation, necessitated by the lavish 
equipment of the colonial administration, an army 
was kept, so large, that its disproportion to the needs 
of the colony in the way of protection against a foreign 
. attack is almost ridiculous. Porto Rico is filled with 
splendid barracks and guard houses. 

To this must be added the unnecessary sumptuous- 
ness of the civil and clerical establishments. The 
small island of Porto Rico had as extensive and elab- 
orate a machinery of administration, as any monarchy 
in Europe. It was divided into seven provinces, besides 
which San Juan, the capital, formed a district by itself, 
similar to our District of Columbia. Each of the seven 
provinces had a governor, who was subordinate to the 



182 lyOOKING BACKWARD. 

Governor-General at the Capitail. Each Governor had 
his staff of subordinates, and clerks, all imported from 
Spain. 

The judiciary of the island have a separate and dis- 
tinct plan of division. Eleven judicial circuits were 
laid out on the little island, each with a Superior Court 
over the local courts of the Alcalde arid all of them 
subordinate to the Supreme Court and Court of Last 
Appeal for local affairs of San Juan. 

The ecclesiastic diocese of Porto Rico consisted 
of twelve vicariates. The country fairly swarms 
with priests, many O'f them, no doubt, excellent 
men, and true friends of the lowly and poor, but 
the system of compelling the people to support 
this entire class in luxurious idleness, without a 
voice as to their number or character, is utterly wrong 
and must lead in too many cases to overbearing on the 
part of the supported, and to hatred on the part of the 
supporters. 

Taxes and forced contributions swallowed up what 
little an ambitious workman might have laid up 
against a rainy day. It was useless to try to better 
one's conditions. There are no savings banks to speak 
of in Porto Rico. Is it a wonder that the population 



LOOKING FORWARD. 1 83 

is indifferent and indolent? What incentive had the 
workman to save money, when he knew, that his Httle 
treasure would only rouse the covetousness of some 
priest or civil officer? What incentive had the planter 
to improve the road leading to his mountain recess, 
when he knew that his very secludedness was his only 
safety from the tax-gatherer and dishonest official? 



LOOKING FORWARD. 

The stars and stripes waving from San Juan will not 
increase the fertihty of the Porto Rican soil; neither 
will the flag over Havana make Cuba raise more to- 
bacco. Nothing but American thrift and industry will 
develop the agricultural and mineral resources of these 
islands. 

The little red school house must bring to the Porto 
Ricans that mental training, which will enable them 
to enjoy the blessings of liberty as we understand and 
cherish it. This will take time. The present gener- 
ation will but imperfectly appreciate and accept 
American ideas, and it will behoove us to use patience 
with them, but the boys and girls, now soon tO' come 
under the influence of our bright and devoted school 



1 84 LOOKING FORWARD. 

teachers, will readily, and eagerly, seize upon the wider 
opportunities that we can afford them. 
■ The author has endeavored to depict the island and 
• the inhabitants as he found them, and shall feel grati- 
fied if he has succeeded in inspiring his readers with 
a love for the people from whose shoulders we have 
lifted the yoke, and with the firm belief that the new 
union will prove a blessing to them, and to us, and to 
all humanity. 



l««» M »t«»»»«< 



A TIMELY, IMPORTANT BOOK 



Laird & Lee's 

PRACTICAL 

Spanish Instructor 

By F. m. De Rivas 

A Graduate of the University of Seville, 
Spain 

One sound for every letter. A unique 
method of learning Spanish without 
the aid of a teacher. Not a dictionary, 
phrase book or grammar. No irksome 
or confusing rules to be learned. Five 
thousand useful expressions; 2,000 
names of Spanish officials, ships, cities 
etc., with their correct pronunciation. 

Silk cloth, 25c 

Morocco, full gilt, 50c 



" It is especially to be commended for its lucid : 
and comprehensive exposition of the pronun- ^ ' 
ciation. ... It has a complete list of syllables ■ 
from which the Spanish words are formed, and :: 
also of officials, of diseases, of dishes ordinar- " 
ly required, of verbs in common use, of occu- •• 
; pations, arts, sciences, and all the acts pnd • 
doings of everj'day life." — Carter's [Monthly. : 

: The Book Correctly Spells and Pronounces all the 
Names of Places and Persons Used in "The 
Story of Beautiful Porto Rico." 

You Make no Mistake in Purchasing a Copj-. 

The Best is Always the Cheapest. 

For sale everywhere, or sent postpaid on 

receipt of price, by 

LAIRD & LEE, 263 Wabash Av.,Chicago 



A BOOK OF 
.INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 



THE 

Salva=Webster 

Spanish= English & English=Spanish : 

384 Pages UlCtlOnary mustrated 

4C,000 Words and Definitions 

New and Thorouglily Revised Edition 

The Pronunciation of English Thoroughly : 
Explained for Spanish Speaking Stu- 
dents of English. 

Interlinear matter for practice of pronuncia- 
tion in both languages; numerals, names of 
months, etc., grouped together; conversation '■'■ 
pieces added, business and social correspond- 
ence enlarged. Also conversations, foreign 
moneys, colored maps, list of consulates, Span- 
ish abbreviations, irregularverbs,Biographical 
and Geographical Cyclopedia, etc., etc., etc. 

Invaluable to Business & Professional 
Men, Teachers & Students. 

Capt. P. F. Harrington, of the Puritan, says: 
"Having some acquaintance with the Spanish 
language, I find the booic an admirable one." ; 

ENDORSED BY ARMY AND NAVY 
PUBLIC AND PRESS 

Should be in every library, public and private ■ ■ 

I Limp Cloth, No Index, 30c 

I Stiff Cloth, Double Index, Marbled Edges, 60c 
i For sale everywhere, or sent on receipt 
I of price, by 

I LAIRD & LEE, 263 Wabash Av.,Chicago 



Ft 
It 

!I 
;x 

t.t 

't ■ 
l 
£ : 

fr 



I 



























1 












Er 


1 


^^^^S^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

liiilliililiiililii 

015 813 808 6 



I 




